Spoiler : [Corrected comment - note also restored paragraphing] One of the best 'shaggy-dog stories' ever - a 'tall tale' to end all 'tall tales.' And more than that ... The most relishable part of the joke is that it nearly does comes true ... ! Really one of the most deliciously dark whimsies - a Second World War 'black op' that almost boomerangs back on the Brits when they fail to take account of the evil brilliance of the Nazi scientists, whom they are attempting to divert from their successful 'V' weapons into researching a fake death ray, a device which has actually just been lifted from the imagination of a science fiction writer, and is expected to prove a futile distraction, for a matter of some months, to their more lethal projects! German Intelligence is successfully deceived by tantalizing leaked details into re-deploying their best rocket scientists into researching the feasibility of this presumed secret British technology. Unfortunately, a hurried British cover-up subsequently has to suppress the fact that the British Intelligence Department's deliberate leaking to the enemy of this entirely fictional secret Death Ray project had almost handed Hitler victory on a plate, when his zealous scientific geniuses unexpectedly come dangerously close to solving the impossible problems of the fantasy science, and creating an extremely powerful and militarily decisive new weapon. The way this clever ending makes the joke almost turn into the sinister reality of an alternative history where Hitler would have had the last laugh, is uncomfortably close to the Nazis real, crazy obsession with creating a world that should depart from the norms of existence, and project them into a God-like state of total invincibility, free of all human or rational restraint. As an unexpected reflection on the horrific power of the Nazi creed of Triumph through the sheer force of their Will to Power, this whimsical anecdote manages to confront us with the Satanic horror of what the Nazis were creating. The brilliance of this story is that an amusing yarn turns abruptly sinister. One can almost hear the sardonic cackling of mad science rising from the bowels of the vapourized mountain bunker where their partially successful early experiment claimed their lives. The blimpish figures of British military Intelligence console themselves that the entire project's intended unfeasability was thereby vindicated, and that the enemy had been hoist by its own petard of violent and unwise hubris. Nevertheless, they decide that all knowledge of this 'Project Trojan' should be suppressed, presumably in case anyone else should attempt to play with this sci-fi Will-o'-the-Wisp, and eventually succeed in harnessing that harmless twinkle to create apocalyptic destruction. Effectively, the story of 'Project Trojan' is a sobering reflection on how some things are actually too serious to joke about. It is a story from the period of Cold War paranoia and the escalation of real yet unimaginable military threats, which immediately ensued upon the cessation of hostilities in 1945. The nuclear bomb had by the time of this tale unleashed the utterly incomprehensible and impossible horror of the instantaneous tearing apart of the fundamental structure of matter. No joking matter, then, when the joke backfires on you.

Spoiler : [Since your algorithms do not permit paragraphing, I have inserted 'P' at every such juncture in my text, in an attempt to make it more readily comprehensible. Thak-you.] One of the best 'shaggy-dog stories' ever - a 'tall tale' to end all 'tall tales.' And something more than that ... P The most relishable part of the joke is that it nearly does comes true ... ! Really one of the most deliciously dark whimsies - a Second World War 'black op' that almost boomerangs back on the Brits when they fail to take account of the evil brilliance of the Nazi scientists, whom they are attempting to divert from their successful 'V' weapons into researching a fake death ray, a device which has actually just been lifted from the imagination of a science fiction writer, and is expected to prove a futile distraction, for a matter of some months, to their more lethal projects! P German Intelligence is successfully deceived by tantalizing leaked details into re-deploying their best rocket scientists into researching the feasibility of this presumed secret British technology. Unfortunately, a hurried British cover-up subsequently has to suppress the fact that the British Intelligence Department's deliberate leaking to the enemy of this entirely fictional secret Death Ray project had almost handed Hitler victory on a plate, when his zealous scientific geniuses unexpectedly come dangerously close to solving the impossible problems of the fantasy science, and creating an extremely powerful and militarily decisive new weapon. P The way this clever ending makes the joke almost turn into the sinister reality of an alternative history where Hitler would have had the last laugh, is uncomfortably close to the Nazis real, crazy obsession with creating a world that should depart from the norms of existence, and project them into a God-like state of total invincibility, free of all human or rational restraint. P As an unexpected reflection on the horrific power of the Nazi creed of Triumph through the sheer force of their Will to Power, this whimsical anecdote manages to confront us with the Satanic horror of what the Nazis were creating. The brilliance of this story is that an amusing yarn turns abruptly sinister. One can almost hear the sardonic cackling of mad science rising from the bowels of the vapourized mountain bunker where their partially successful early experiment claimed their lives. P The blimpish figures of British military Intelligence console themselves that the entire project's intended unfeasability was thereby vindicated, and that the enemy had been hoist by its own petard of violent and unwise hubris. Nevertheless, they decide that all knowledge of this 'Project Trojan' should be suppressed, presumably in case anyone else should attempt to play with this sci-fi Will-o'-the-Wisp, and eventually succeed in harnessing that harmless twinkle to create apocalyptic destruction. P Effectively, the story of 'Project Trojan' is a sobering reflection on how some things are actually too serious to joke about. It is a story from the period of Cold War paranoia and the escalation of real yet unimaginable military threats, which immediately ensued upon the cessation of hostilities in 1945. The nuclear bomb had by the time of this tale unleashed the utterly incomprehensible and impossible horror of the instantaneous tearing apart of the fundamental structure of matter. P No joking matter, then, when the joke backfires on you.